EU at the UN

The EU's commitment to effective multilateralism, with the UN at its core, is a central element of its external action. As a UN observer with enhanced status, the EU delegation coordinates with its 28 Member States to speak with one voice. The EU also works closely with the UN secretariat and its agencies, funds & programmes, partnering on a range of global issues and challenges.

EU Presidency Declaration on the situation in the Comoros

Summary: EU Presidency Declaration on the situation in the Comoros (19 February 2007: Brussels)

The European Union is concerned by the recent political tensions between the Union of the Comoros and its member autonomous islands, arising from disagreement over the application of the institutional laws on the distribution of powers between Union and islands. These tensions disrupt the operation of the state and undermine the new institutions put in place by the Fomboni process.

The European Union supports the steps taken by the members of the international community present in the Comoros to help the authorities of the Union and the autonomous islands to resume their discussions and to find agreement in a spirit of dialogue and concern for national unity.

It calls on the various Comorian parties to resolve their disagreements on questions of the distribution of powers, in particular for internal security, in accordance with the Constitution and the institutional laws adopted pursuant to it. It welcomes the fact that, as a result of the recent African Union mission led by Mr Francisco Madeira, all parties have resumed their dialogue and decided to continue discussions on the precise delimitation of powers, in particular with regard to internal security.

The European Union calls on the Comorian authorities to engage their efforts in preparing the elections of the presidents of the autonomous islands, which are due to take place when the respective presidential mandates expire between March and April 2007, and it stands ready to cooperate, in liaison with the other partners of the international community present in Moroni, in contributing to the orderly conduct of those elections.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.